


puppy love

by rosegoldblood



Series: of jack-o'-lanterns and orange leaves [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Explicit Language, First Dates, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, idiots to lovers, no beta we die like meri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27060130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosegoldblood/pseuds/rosegoldblood
Summary: dream was not expecting to be stuttering over a barista at a cafe when he woke up in the morning, but hey, here he is. if only he could work up the courage to ask for a number.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: of jack-o'-lanterns and orange leaves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966693
Comments: 33
Kudos: 520





	puppy love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meridies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridies/gifts).



> kicking off the halloween fics with a classic mutual pining and obliviousness for meri ^^ i know it doesn't really fit the prompt, but i hope you like it anyway!
> 
> join the server here: https://discord.gg/bePfTD

"hi, what can i get you?"

all dream could respond with was " _uhhh_ ".

was he drooling? he probably shouldn't be drooling. he wiped at his chin, relieved to find that it was, in fact, dry. then he caught the barista, staring, blinking almost like he was confused. uh. what was he doing? right. ordering. that was what dream was doing. or supposed to be doing. whatever.

he opened his mouth. first step. but also, he had to figure out _what_ to say. dream's eyes roved over the chalkboard menu above, before he realised that he's been to this cafe about a hundred times, and he should know what to order already. "black coffee," he managed to say.

"sugar? cream? milk?" the barista asked, and again dream stuttered, as if the knowledge of whatever those three words meant had flown away. all dream could do was shake his head, slowly, and though the barista raised an eyebrow he didn't comment. "alright. anything else?"

"are you new?" dream blurted out. 

the barista, who had a shiny pin on their apron with the name _george_ (what a white name, dream thought), shrugged. "uh, yeah. i am. i was hired a few days ago. why?"

dream wiped his hands on his jeans. he had to start working soon instead of standing in front of a cute barista behind a cafe counter and spitting out random words every few seconds, blushing like he was trying to transform into a tomato. "no reason. just good to know, you know?" the repetition made him wince. "that's all. from me! let me just -"

he tried to scoot away, but george deadpanned, "you haven't paid yet." to which dream realised that yes, in fact, he had _not_ paid yet, and also he didn't exactly want to be charged with theft. he slid back to the counter and shoved a bill in george's direction.

"keep the change," he said, adjusting his laptop bag strap on his shoulder. george looked down at the bill.

"this is a hundred dollar bill. that's more than fifty dollars of change - are you sure you want me to keep it?" dream hadn't realised that he'd given george the hundred dollar bill instead of the fifty-dollar one, but in fear of embarrassing himself any further he nodded. "sir, are you alright?"

listen. george was cute, okay. usually the barista at the counter was this girl with blonde-brown hair and round glasses and dream was cool, he was totally fine with that, except he'd walked in this morning to see... this. neat, dark brown hair (that was frankly terribly cut, but dream thought it was endearing), wide brown doe eyes. he was almost cartoonishly pretty, and dream was thrown so off his rhythm that his soul had left his body.

"bwuh," dream spat out, before he realised what the question was. the _sir_ had distracted him, okay? it'd distract anybody. probably. maybe. "no, yeah, i'm fine! just a little tired and loopy today." he hoped it was a decent excuse, and by the neutral expression on george's face, it was. "uh, thanks!"

dream walked away, leaving george to stare at the bill in his hands with confusion. he regained his wits, feeling the humiliation start to flood in as he realised how much of a total idiot he'd acted like. dream, flustered in front of some cute boy? at the ripe old age of twenty-one? more likely than he thought.

so he'd get george's number. that seemed like a viable course of action. but oh, fuck, what if the guy was straight? dream kind of doubted it, with the way george held himself and the goggles that ruffled his hair (that was probably a gay thing, right? no straight man wore goggles), but he also wasn't going to walk up to george and stutter out _so, you like boys?_

he unlocked his phone and scrolled through his texts. there was only one, from sapnap, asking whether they were still up to meet at his dorm. dream texted back his agreement and bit at his nails.

when his name was called, he strode up to the counter confidently, even though his legs were shaking. george slid a tall plastic cup full of coffee over to him, along with the standard packet of sugar.

before he could turn away to take the next order, dream spoke. "wait," he said, and george froze. dream thought that he could see george roll his eyes, but he bounced on his heels and shot his shot anyway. "can i, uh, maybe get your number?"

george blinked. once. twice. dream gritted his teeth, waiting for the inevitable moment of, _sorry, i'm straight._ but instead a grin grew on george's face and he shrugged as he turned away, picking up a rag. "come back tomorrow," he said, "then we'll see."

dream stood, open-mouthed, green eyes wide. it wasn't a success, but it was most definitely not a failure.

it was a chance, that was what it was. and he, for one, was very ready to take it.

【 ☕️ 】

they were supposed to be studying. they were not doing that. 

dream was resolutely ignoring both the textbook in front of him and sapnap, squishing his cheeks and laughing like a madman. call it multitasking, call it apathy, but he was getting rather good at it.

"you asked him for his number?!" sapnap cackled, hands on dream's shoulders as the latter pursed his lips, trying to tune sap's voice out as he stared into the distance. "dude! you just met him! i cannot believe -" he made an inhuman noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a snort, "- oh my god. what'd he respond?"

"um. something like 'come back tomorrow, and we'll see'. i don't know. he was really vague about it." sapnap leaned back, scratching at his chin like he was in thought. 

sapnap had never been very good at affairs in romance and love, but dream had to admit that he was probably a little more well-versed than dream was, seeing as he had a girlfriend. "hmm... he probably wants to get to know you better first. is he straight?"

"no idea. but he was wearing goggles -"

"that's not straight."

" _right?_ and he had a terrible haircut. it was kind of cute, though. i guess it fit him in a way. even i think if his barber should be sued." dream smiled just slightly at the memory of him, with headphone dents in the side of his hair. 

then he noticed sapnap looking at him, eyebrows and mouth flat. "you're making me sick, dude," he said, and dream couldn't resist the urge to laugh at how dramatic he was being. "but you know what? good for you, shooting your shot ten minutes after meeting a guy."

they smiled at each other, and dream was reminded of why exactly sapnap was his best friend - because underneath that teasing, mocking, rough exterior, sapnap really did want dream happy. he really did care.

"even if you embarrassed yourself."

well, maybe that was debatable.

【 ☕️ 】

the cafe was quieter on thursdays. but then again, maybe everything was quieter on thursdays. only a few people were sat at the tables around the coffee shop, and the sweet smell of lattes and cake drifted through the air. dream stretched out his fingertips and breathed it in.

he was back. of course he was. dream couldn't stay away, couldn't help but wonder about george. at least if he was going to get painfully rejected in front of a dozen people who would inevitably laugh about it later, that was closure. closure was good.

"hey," dream said, but his voice came out way deeper than he'd meant it. he coughed. "i mean... hi. could i get a black coffee as usual please? and a beef quiche. thanks." the corner of george's mouth quirked up as he turned around to give the order to another of the employees.

silence fell over them as george calculated the prices at the cash register. "so..." dream started, and took george remaining quiet as a sign for him to continue. "do you, uh, go to college or anything?" 

"i just graduated," george answered, neutral as always, and dream halted. holy shit. george barely looked eighteen, and he'd already graduated? how smart exactly was this guy? "i'm twenty-four," george added for clarification, and dream's eyes widened even further. 

"but you look so -" he stammered, and for the first time george laughed, eyes crinkling up in the corners. the sight made dream blush. "you know, young. like, i thought you were nineteen or something."

the cash register beeped and george crossed his arms. "ten dollars," he said, and dream slid a bill over to him. "and thanks. i moisturise." before dream could figure out whether george was joking, george pushed himself off the counter and went to make his drink.

_that was... a good interaction,_ dream reassured himself, even if he wasn't so sure. yes, he'd embarrassed and made a fool of himself, but he'd done that yesterday, too! george already knew about how much of an idiot he was. well, maybe that wasn't something to be proud of. but still.

he hadn't seemed too bothered by dream talking to him. if he was, he probably would've told already. and he'd laughed and joked with dream, so... maybe he wasn't doing all that bad. maybe he had a chance.

dream walked back up to the counter and tapped twice at the sound of george's voice calling his name. a plate with quiche on top of it and a plastic cup of black coffee sat there, as usual. "are you from the uk?" he asked. "just... your accent."

"oh," george said, drumming his fingers against the counter. "well, yeah, i'm british." he pronounced british as _bri-ish_ in an over-exaggerated accent, and dream thought it was adorable. "i moved here for college and stuff... and my friends, i guess."

"that's cool," dream commented, for lack of things to say, "do you ever miss it there?"

george got a faraway look in his eyes, almost like he was recalling something, before shaking his head. "no, not really," he replied, though dream suspected it was a lie. "i mean, it was nice there. but here's okay too. i don't really get attached easily."

"if you've lived there your whole life and you don't miss it at all? yeah, no kidding," dream said, and george laughed, shy and self-conscious. even his laugh sounded like it had an accent, although logically dream knew that was stupid. 

"i mean, i miss it a little. just not that much. it's not really on my mind." he shrugged. 

they both turned at the sound of a chime. someone had entered the cafe and was walking up to the counter. george rubbed at the back of his neck. "yeah, i have to go back to work. but enjoy your quiche and your coffee. and, uh, this." 

along with the plate and the cup, george slid a piece of paper to him, face flaming red as he walked away to serve the next customer. dream unfolded it, eyes widening at what was messily written on the paper.

a string of numbers had never made him so happy.

【 ☕️ 】

sapnap was dancing.

and to clarify even further: sapnap was not, by any means, good at dancing.

yet dream couldn't even bring himself to ask him to stop or make fun of him, too overwhelmed with both excitement and nervousness as he stared at the number on the paper. "yes!" he heard sapnap yell. "get it, baby. i knew you could do it, dream! no man who wears goggles is straight."

"no man could resist my charm, you mean," dream said, smiling when sapnap rolled his eyes. "i mean, i still kind of embarrassed myself, but what about it, right? i got his number. that's good. that is good."

"it is!" they were both silent, and sapnap narrowed his eyes. "you're... going to call him, right?" dream went pale, and sap must have noticed, because he turned to dream with an expression of fury and frustration. "or at least text him. ask him out on a date."

the thought made him sick with excitement, dream pulling at the strands of his dirty blond hair dejectedly. "yeah, but..." he protested, "what if he doesn't like me? what if he doesn't say yes?"

he turned to see sapnap, mouth slightly open, blinking like he wasn't able to process how stupid dream was being. it was a face he saw often - when he'd almost eaten cat shit, when he'd told the story of him locking his sister in a car with a spider, when he'd almost died geocaching -

point was, dream was stupid a lot. this seemed to be one of those occasions. at least, by the way sapnap was looking at him, his best friend seemed to think so. "what?" dream asked defensively.

"dude, you're stupid," sapnap said, "you asked for his number solely so you could go on a date with him! what, were you hitting on him and making yourself look dumb just for funsies?" dream flushed, but his fingers still hovered over the phone keyboard. "dream. buddy. friend. pal."

"don't patronize me."

sapnap laughed, placing his hands on dream's shoulders. "just do it," he whispered, like he was in a nike ad, "he gave you his number because he wants to go on a date with you. just ask him out, he'll say yes."

"but what if he thought i just wanted to be his friend?" at this sapnap groaned, falling back onto the couch and cupping his face like he couldn't stand to look at dream and his idiocy. "sap! i still don't know whether he's gay or not. he could really be in it just for friendship -"

"he wears _goggles!_ " sapnap shot up like a rocket, gripping dream's shoulders and shaking them. "goggles are not a straight thing! you're fooling yourself, dream. you're emotionally constipated and i, for one, will not stand by and let my friend miss out on a chance to rail a tw -"

"okay, that's enough," dream interrupted, face red. he scooped up his phone and sighed. dream hated to admit it, but sapnap was right - he'd never been too good with his emotions. and though deep inside he knew he was being stupid, he couldn't help the wave of anxiety that washed over him every time he typed out the words.

when he looked up, sapnap was still staring at him with a deadpan expression. "dude. you went up to a guy, asked for his number to go on a date with him, and now you're embarrassed to go on a date with him." 

silence.

"yeah, that sounds like classic dream to me."

dream groaned and swatted at sapnap's arm, making him flop back onto the couch with an exaggerated yelp of pain. "oh, you shut up. i'll get it eventually."

【 ☕️ 】

he did not get it eventually. 

in fact, hours and days dragged on without sending that dreaded text ( _"hey!"_ ), the existential fear of his phone mounting with every passing day, until it came to the point where dream despaired over the life decisions he'd took to be afraid of three letters, an exclamation mark, and an arrow button.

sapnap made fun of him, every day, but slowly be grew more and more tired until even his unrelenting mocking died down to the occasional snappy comment. and if the situation was so dire that sapnap could no longer tease him about it - dream thought that maybe he was screwed.

when he'd next gone to the cafe, george hadn't been there. he asked about it to the barista there, and she shrugged and explained that george probably had a day off. dream'd trudged home in disappointment that day, and had been avoiding the cafe ever since.

was he a coward? yes. was he being stupid? oh, absolutely. was he going to stop? ...debatable.

it was three in the morning when he finally did it. 

his eyes snapped open. he groaned, rubbing at his eyes, rolling over to grab his phone off of his bedside table and checking the time, before looking out the window. it was way too early, or rather too late, to be awake. why was he awake?

dream slouched back against his pillows, opening up his chat app, eyes scanning over the one word he'd read over and over and over again in nervousness. he pressed the backspace and furrowed his eyebrows. perhaps it was because of his drowsiness, his mind not fully awake yet, but he started to type out a sentence.

_hey! would you like to hang out sometime?_

he waited for the anxiety to hit him, but none came, so instead he shrugged and pressed the send button. dream waited until the two checkmarks appeared by the message, signalling that it had been sent, before tossing his phone back onto the table and burying his face into the pillow.

the huge relief of finally sending the text must have been some kind of calming drug for him, because he was out like a light before he knew it.

【 ☕️ 】

"oh, _fuck,_ sapnap!" dream yelled out, socks sliding against the clean wooden floor, shoulder bumping against the wall painfully as he slid around the corner. the floor made a squeaking sound as he raced around the corner, throwing himself onto the couch.

"world record," sapnap said dryly, eyes widening when dream shoved his phone into sap's face. "oh, whoa, congrats, man! you finally asked him out. i knew my best friend still had -"

he was interrupted by dream screeching _"no!"_ in his face. "he's gonna say no," he sobbed, and sapnap raised his eyebrow. "i sent the text at three am, sap, and it's twelve in the afternoon right now and he still hasn't responded! he's ghosting me. i know it."

"first of all, no you don't." sapnap stood up and walked over to the fridge, leaving dream to whine as he took his sweet time pulling out a tub of ice cream out of the freezer and a spoon from the drawer. "he could be busy. you literally met him a coffee shop, he probably doesn't have time to respond to you all day."

dream bit at his nails. "should i go over to the cafe, then?"

sapnap slapped dream's hand, knocking it away from his mouth. "no! don't do that!" he yelled. "do i _have_ to coach you through everything related to romance? no wonder i got a girlfriend first." 

before he could graciously remind sapnap of the time he put in an earpiece to call dream when he hung out with a girl, sapnap continued. "just wait for him to respond, okay? it's not that hard. i'm sure he'll say yes eventually."

the last word made dream bring his hand up to chew on his nails, which sapnap slapped away yet again with a disgusted look on his face. "okay," dream relented, pocketing his phone. "but like, what if he doesn't? and what if he says yes and he still thinks we're just friends? i mean, i kind of phrased it like _hang out,_ that's not exactly date-coded language -"

"dream." sapnap stared dream dead in the eye and sighed. "chill out. it's going to be fine. even if he rejects you -" the thought made dream shiver as sapnap shoved a spoon of ice cream into his mouth, "- it's not going to be the end of the world."

he traced the pattern of the fabric of the couch. "i know," he said, "i just feel so attached for some reason. i don't know. it's weird." dream had never believed in soulmates, but if that was an explanation as to how it felt - well, it wouldn't be a surprise. 

then his phone pinged.

they both raised their eyebrows at each other before dream scrambled for his phone. it almost fell out of his hands as he unlocked it, bouncing the device in his hands as he tapped at the notification on his chatting app.

_sure. where?_

dream jumped up, actually jumped up like a cheerleader on a baseball field. he felt _giddy,_ the urge to bounce up and down around the house as he hummed. sapnap, disregarding his ice cream, snatched the phone and read the text. 

"huh. well, he's not the most enthusiastic guy, isn't he?" sapnap questioned, but dream ignored him still bouncing on his heels. "good for you, buddy."

snapping back to the present, dream leaned over and grabbed his phone back. "sapnap! what do i respond? what do i say? uh, olive garden? he seems like an olive garden kind of guy," dream rambled, and sapnap restrained a laugh. "or maybe starbucks? oh, but he works at a cafe, he wouldn't -"

"dream, you're late for class."

"oh, shit."

【 ☕️ 】

dream propped his book up just so that it obscured the professor's view of him, grinning at his own genius before ducking down to stare at his phone. the chatbox mocked him, almost, with the white space and the blinking line. 

_"is olive garden good?_ " dream asked, before deleting it. he typed it up a little differently, deleting it again. none of it sounded right. _i don't mind any place. do you have any ideas? maybe olive garden?_

george's reply came surprisingly fast. _olive garden? that's so date-y._ and dream's heart dropped, fingers speeding over his keyboard to backtrack, because, okay, yeah, obviously george does not consider this a date if he's saying that. 

before he could send his text of "yeah, you're right lol i mean it's not like we're going on a date or anything", george followed up with: _i know this sushi place. it's pretty close, i can take you there if you want. do you like sushi?  
_

_i mean, no. but i've only ever tried, like... walmart sushi._

_walmart sushi is a curse. meet me outside of the cafe at four and i'll show you what real sushi's like_

dream tilted his head and grinned. "assertive," he murmured to himself, before slapping his phone down, eyes going wide as the whole class stared at him. "i - what was the question again?" he asked, abashedly. 

he answered the question correctly (because he was smart, obviously, and not because the page his textbook was on said the answer) (totally not because of that), going back to slumping on his desk and staring at his phone, wistfully.

sapnap was wrong. george wasn't interested in him romantically, didn't want to go on a date with him. the text has basically been a rejection, and although it was much less embarrassing it didn't ease the aching in dream's heart one bit. of course. just his luck. the guy was probably _straight._

sapnap was wrong. and while he often was, for once dream wished that he wasn't.

【 ☕️ 】

"hey."

" _hey!_ "

dream's voice was jumpy as he turned to look at george, grinning nervously. he hated to admit it, but george looked nice. he was wearing a dull blue sweater with a dark blue shirt underneath, with jeans and black, blue-laced sneakers. "lots of blue," dream managed to point out.

george shrugged. "i'm colourblind," he said, and dream exhaled, gritting his teeth. a minute in and he was fucking things up already. "blue's one of the only colours i can see. i mean, i have the corrective goggles -" he tapped the lenses, "but they don't work, like, completely."

_that makes sense_ , dream thought as they walked down the pavement in silence. he tucked his hands into his jacket and sighed. "so this sushi place," dream started, and george turned to him. "is it really that good?"

he perked up. "oh, yes. i've only ever tried it a few times before with my friend ponk, but - well. it's good, is my point. besides, i doubt you'd know what good sushi is, anyway." dream raised his eyebrows as george muttered, "who eats walmart sushi? are you poor or something?"

"hey, i'm a college student, okay. we're _all_ poor." 

"i wasn't," george said. "i mean, my family's pretty well-off, so. they're not really stingy about money." oh, of course. of course the one person dream had to have a crush on was a rich brat. "but i was fine with college. i studied computer science, so."

dream smiled at this, relieved the conversation was at least going somewhere. "i studied that, too! well, i used to. but my major right now is literature." george blinked and stared at dream like he was an enigma. "what? what's wrong with literature?"

he should've felt offended when george laughed, but it just made his heart feel all tingly and warm. which was maybe a bit weird if george was aiming to be _just friends_ , but it didn't matter, did it, if he kept all the thoughts to himself? as long as he did that, they'd be okay. probably. maybe.

"nothing's wrong with literature, dream," george said, voice sincere yet with an undertone of amusement to it that made dream pout. "it's just... i don't know. it's kind of obvious, innit? everything about you is so..." he waved his hand around in a vague gesture. "...writer."

"are you saying i'm poetic?" dream raised his eyebrow. "because i'm honoured, if you are. i try my best to be _eloquent_ at all times, if you -"

"the first thing you said to me was _uhhh,_ and the next thing you did was drool." dream flushed at the memory, subconsciously wiping at his chin. "but sure, mr. poetic. let's go with that. oh, we're here!"

they stopped in front of a restaurant. it had a fair amount of people in it, but not enough to be crowded. the front was strung up with fairy lights and a sign that had a bunch of japanese letters written on it that dream couldn't understand. he tilted to the side and peered at the meals, and though he hated to admit it they did look good. 

george strode in with confidence, hands tucked into his jackets. "so -" and then he tripped over a ledge in the doorway.

it took dream a moment to process, but his arms flailed, scrambling to catch george as he swayed on the tip of his toes like paper in the wind, before tilting forward and yelping. before his face could go smash against the ground, dream caught him.

good news; george did not break his nose against the restaurant floor. bad news, his (ridiculously, needlessly) loud yelp had attracted the attention of several people near the entrance, who were now staring at them.

"bwuh," dream stuttered out, fingers curling into the back of george's shirt. he debated letting go, but then realised that would slam george into the floor, which was exactly what he was trying to avoid in the first place. maybe in a different situation he would've been able to get a hold of himself, but for now he was stuck staring into george's eyes, nearly nose-to-nose, going, "uh."

for a moment that probably was, realistically, three seconds - thought it felt like an hour - they stared at each other. eyes wide. cheeks red. mouths drawn into flat lines.

then they both sprung up and straightened like pool noodles that had been bent backward. "sorry," george blurted out, face so red it was borderline cute, arms snapped to his side as he stiffly walked through the restaurant. the people around them went back to eating, and dream sent a nervous grin at them.

_what the fuck,_ dream thought to himself, burying his face in his hands to ward away the heat in his cheeks. _what the fuck just happened._ he slid into the seat beside george, lifting the menu to hide his face, which was regrettably still red.

"oh, hi, george! you're back!" someone said, and dream glanced up from behind his menu to see a waiter, with a black red-lined vest and a hood pulled over his head. "and who are you?" his voice was sweet as he turned to dream. the pin on his vest said _bad_. 

"i'm dream," he said, relieved to be moving past what had happened before. "you two know each other? you told me you weren't here too often."

george gave a nervous smile. "bad - uh - he dropped my glass on me the last time i went here. it was kind of a... bonding experience." bad flushed. "don't say sorry, bad. it wasn't your fault. we should just order now."

they both stared at dream. "i've never had sushi before," he stated.

at this george smacked his own forehead. "yeah. right. i forgot. i guess the california rolls are good..." he continued to spout some more words off that dream didn't understand, but it was fun to watch him ramble over sushi. "and uh - yeah, that's it."

bad nodded, writing down their orders on his notepad, before pocketing it and walking away with one last wave toward george. george fiddled with his phone, tapping away at the keyboard. dream raised his eyebrows and pulled out his own phone, texting sapnap.

_hey, so. we're at this sushi restaurant._ before sapnap could respond, dream sent out another text. _but i think you were wrong. he was... i don't think he wants to be anything more than friends._ three dots appeared that indicated sapnap was typing, but dream didn't have the energy to deal with him. he slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked up.

"so you're a literature major, huh," george said, leaning forward. "what do you do? what do you study?"

"well... literature," dream answered, and george stared at him like dream was stupid. "no, no, i know what you meant. usually we read. you know, like, plays, novels. even non-fictions like biographies and stuff. then we have to analyse them."

george hummed to show that he was listening. it was hard to tell whether he was interested or not, a small, apathetic smile on his face as dream talked. "we had to read beowulf just a week ago - which is, i mean, come on. what is this, ninth grade?"

dream smiled when george at least laughed at this. "i'm not very into literature," he admitted, hand on his chin. "writing, poetry, they're not really... i'm not good at them, kind of. so that's pretty cool." there was a silence between them in which george perked up. "oh! but i'm a big fan of harry potter."

the book series title immediately made dream groan and slump onto the restaurant table. george's eyes went wide as dream groaned yet again into the wood. " _harry potter,_ " he moaned out, "is so overrated, every time i hear the title it makes me want to -"

he slammed his face into the table again, and this time, george laughed. "okay, okay, i can see that. why, exactly, do you hate it so much? i think it was good."

dream was absolutely prepared to go on an hour-long rant, but he kept is short, just for george. 'ranting about harry potter in depth' would probably be saved for the future, when they were getting serious. third base, if you were. "there are just so many loopholes," dream whined, "and the moral isn't consistent. like the author couldn't decide what the message of the story should be."

"...yeah, okay, i can see that," george admitted after a moment of consideration. "i still like it, though. the sorting house system thing. i think it's clever. and like, people still use it today. years later."

though dream was tempted to ramble about how the sorting system wasn't actually all that impressive - it just catered to the instinctive human need to be categorised and related to with other people - he reminded himself to save it for third base; so all he said was, "plus, the author is transphobic."

when george pulled a face that looked like the human embodiment of the grimacing emoji, dream nodded. "right? oh, food's here!"

bad set a few plates down, along with two glasses of iced green tea, clapping his hands together. "i think that's all! i hope you enjoy the food. call me if you need anything!" he winked at george, who narrowed his eyes and blushed, sliding away.

"so..." dream glanced down at the rolls and slices of raw fish on the plates. the last time he'd eaten sushi, they'd been... mediocre. they didn't really taste like anything, they just had a weird texture. he picked up the two chopsticks. "i don't know... how to use these."

"here." george reached forward and cupped his hand around both of dream's, arranging his fingers around the pair of chopsticks. dream tried to pay attention, but all he could focus on was george's hands, pale and surprisingly smooth, almost intertwined with dream's own. "then you put your thumb here. try."

and dream did try, he tried his damn best despite the heat in his cheeks, but all he managed to do was make the chopsticks clatter to the table. george winced. "you know what? it's fine. it takes some work. just - uh - do whatever's comfortable for you, i guess."

dream ignored the painful expression george's face as he used the chopsticks to stab through the sushi right in the middle. he dipped it into soy sauce, and george raised his eyebrows as he put it into his mouth and chewed. his eyes widened. "oh my god."

all george did was giggle, and dream would've thought it was adorable if he wasn't too focused on how the sushi tasted, somehow salty and sweet all at once in a perfect balance. "oh my god! this is so good!"

he stabbed through another sushi roll and nearly chucked it in his mouth. holding the chopsticks in a very awkward way, he tried the sashimi, which was just as good. "this is... amazing."

"isn't it?" george said, eating a roll himself. 

the rest of the ~~date~~ meet-up went amazing, at least in dream's opinion. sure, maybe george didn't want to be anything more than friends - but it was still nice to have another person to talk to, someone who was willing to listen to his special interest in minecraft and his opinions on various pieces of media. if he didn't want to be dream's boyfriend - well, a friend was a pretty good second choice.

soon, their plates were empty, the wasabi and soy sauce in the little plates reduced to mush. bad came up to them and smiled. "hi, guys! how was the food?" he asked, and dream and george both responded with varying degrees of _it was good_ and _it was fucking amazing_. "great! i'm glad you guys enjoyed your date."

at the word _date_ dream froze up and his eyes cut to george's. he didn't want george to feel uncomfortable, so he quickly cut in, "oh, no! we're not on a date. we're - uh - just friends. yeah."

except when he turned to george, he was frozen still and blinking as he looked up at bad. "yeah," he repeated quietly, before digging into his hoodie pocket for a hundred dollar bill. "here, bad. thanks for having me."

he tossed the money at bad, who caught it, looking confused, before running out the door, despite the rain that was beginning to drip against the pavement.

"i -" dream stuttered out. he'd messed up, hadn't he? "i'm sorry, bad. and thanks for having us!" despite the payment already being covered by george, he chucked his own money at bad, who looked even more confused at the dollars in his hands. dream ran out after george.

who was walking along the pavement, hands tucked into his sweater pockets. "hey, wait up!" dream yelled out, and george stopped for a second before continuing to walk. "what's up? did i - say something wrong?"

"you think it's so funny, don't you," george said bitterly, before shaking his head. "acting like an idiot in front of me. asking for my number. asking me out. i thought you were cute, dream. and cool. but i guess this is all a -" his voice rose in pitch, "- funny joke, 'cause we're just friends!"

"oh, no," dream muttered to himself, then spoke up louder. "you - you really thought we were on a date?" george's mouth was a straight line as he stared at dream. "i - i didn't realise... i thought you just wanted to be friends."

to which george just slapped his hand over his face and laughed, voice still so bitter and sharp. "we went to a sushi restaurant! a really expensive one, at that! and we talked about..." his voice trailed away as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "it doesn't matter anymore."

dream's throat felt dry. he wanted to speak up, but george continued. "and - i thought you were actually interested in me. which is rare, because -" he gestured to himself. "but you just wanted to make me look like an idiot."

"i _didn't,_ " dream protested, finally getting the nerve to speak, placing his hand on george' shoulder. to his surprise, the other let him. "it was - i _am_ interested in you. like, romantically! but you - i don't know. i just thought you wanted to be friends. i'm sorry. i've been... an asshole."

the anger faded off of george's face, to be replaced by a more incredulous look. "really?" he asked. "you... mean it. you like me. like that. it wasn't just a joke or anything?" dream shook his head and smiled. 

"of course i like you," he answered, "i've just been an idiot, is all. but now that i know that you - uh - feel the same way... i'd like to try this again with you. with less running away from a sushi restaurant and getting stuck in the rain and more kissing."

"well, we can do that now if you want," george suggested, face red but blinking his eyes and smiling so sincerely it made dream's heart hurt.

"yeah," dream said, his hand against george's cheek as he leaned down, until their noses were nearly touching. "that sounds nice," was the last thing he managed before they kissed.

and it was weird, and they were on a dark road outside of a sushi restaurant, and there was rain slamming against them and the pavement, getting their hair and clothes wet as they laughed against each other. it wasn't picture perfect or anything like it was in the movies.

but dream was happy. 

【 ☕️ 】

the cafe wasn't too crowded with people, luckily, and dream didn't have to wait in line too long. he pocketed his phone, which was blowing up with sapnap's texts, and while he appreciated the enthusiasm dream thought that maybe his friend could wait a bit longer for the details.

a familiar voice told the customer to enjoy their day and dream stepped forward, a grin on his face. george raised his eyebrows before his face settled into a similar expression, smiling as he grabbed a marker and spun it between his fingers.

"hi, what can i get you?"


End file.
